Fitting It In
Gary Gulbranson
I don't respond to every squeaky hinge as if it requires a major repair job. One drop of oil can do wonders.
—Gary Gulbranson
The ring of the phone awoke me one Sunday morning at 5:30. A woman whom I had been counseling for some time tearfully asked me to drive to Billings Hospital in Chicago (some twenty-five miles away) and minister to her sister and brother-in-law. Their 2-year-old son had been in the bathtub the night before; while his mother was out of the room, his 8-year-old retarded sister had climbed into the tub and sat on him. When the mother returned, she found him in a coma.
When I received the call, it appeared the baby would die. With Sunday's service before me I said, "I'll definitely go see them. But I have to see when I can work that into my schedule today.…"
"Pastor," she interrupted. "I think the little boy is going to die, and they need you right away."
"Okay. I'll be there shortly."
At six o'clock I phoned an elder and asked him to teach my 9; 45 Bible class. I told him I expected to be back for the worship service at 11 a.m. Then I got into my car.
The woman was right: the boy did die, and the family desperately needed pastoral care. I spent several hours with them, drove back in time to preach the morning service, then returned to the hospital.
I could have handled this differently. When I received the phone call that morning, I could have told my counselee that I would contact a chaplain at the hospital. But from our sessions together, I knew she had been burned by authority figures in the past and thus distrusted them. I determined that her need to trust a pastor was higher than my responsibility to teach a class.
I regularly find myself in similar situations, weighing the cry for pastoral care against ...
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